


Quarantined

by Mector



Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: Angst and Feels, COVID-19, Coronavirus, F/M, Netflix and Chill, Pandemics, Quarantine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:42:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23191828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mector/pseuds/Mector
Summary: Amidst the panic and confusion of a global pandemic, Tessa is forced to self-isolate. She is surprised when Scott shows up at her front doorstep with Clorox disinfecting wipes and toilet paper.
Relationships: Scott Moir & Tessa Virtue, Scott Moir/Tessa Virtue
Comments: 2
Kudos: 16





	Quarantined

_“Let me be clear, if you are abroad, it is time to come home.”_

The Prime Minister’s words were a shock to the system but the motivation she needed to immediately book a plane ticket to Toronto. For weeks, the small towns she flitted about in Provence, France seemed immune and unaffected but in recent days, she had noticed a dramatic shift. The patisseries and boulangeries she had come to love were closing shop and she knew it was time to face the facts. She had to go home.

**

_“I acknowledge that I am/we are being asked to self-isolate for the next 14 days to prevent the potential spread of COVID-19.”_

Tessa clicked the “acknowledged” button on the kiosk and took a deep breath. She vowed to take this seriously as possible. She needed to let her family know that under no circumstances were they to come to her London, Ontario home. She would not put the safety of her family or the public at risk. She looked up at the _“Welcome to Canada”_ sign feeling overwhelmed and relieved. France had just been put under a strict 15-day lockdown and she would rather be locked up in her beautiful house than a hotel. 

**

Ordering groceries and household supplies online almost caused her to have a panic attack, call her sister and tell her to go shopping for her instead. She was dismayed to see that her favourite vegan cheese was sold out at every store in London and there was no toilet paper to be found when she was down to her last roll. She got through it, adhering herself to a boring diet of oatmeal, crackers, rice and beans for the first couple days waiting until stores replenished stock. 

She was re-reading Northanger Abbey awaiting her grocery delivery when the doorbell rang. She made her way slowly to the door mentally preparing herself for her first human interaction in days. 

She was shocked to see the man had toilet paper. She didn’t remember ordering that. “Oh, thank--” she paused, gasping when she realized it was Scott. 

“Are you instacart?” she blurted out, immediately blushing when he raised his eyebrows.

“No, I’m Scott.” 

He’s laughing at her and wags a coveted bin of Clorox wipes at her. “Your sister told me you were self-isolating so I brought you supplies,” he tells her, advancing in on her and she throws herself back, startled. 

“Don’t come in! Social distancing!” she cries out. 

He walks in away and scoffs at her. “You’ve been social distancing for months,” he accuses. 

“We’re supposed to--” 

“You’ve definitely mastered the craft,” he says putting the pack of toilet papers down. Twenty-four rolls of toilet paper, she notes, a luxury in these trying times. So many questions pop into her head and she asks the most imperative. 

“Where did you get Clorox and toilet paper?” 

“Costco.” 

Tessa backs herself against her kitchen island as Scott comes in further. 

“Relax,” he says putting up his hands to placate her. He grabs her house key from the bowl in the kitchen and grins at her. 

“In case you try to lock me out.” 

“Wh-” He’s gone back outside and she closes her eyes, breathing deeply trying to steel her nerves.

She opens her eyes at a knock on her open door. 

“Hey, um are you Tessa? I got your grocery,” says a timid young girl. She nods at the girl and manages a weak ‘thanks’ as the girl sets her groceries down on the hardwood floor. 

Tessa is rattled at the sudden and unexpected presence of Scott and tenses when Scott appears again, handing the girl a cash tip and giving his thanks. He has a suitcase with him. He looks up at her and she must look absolutely panicked because he hesitates before speaking.

“I’m staying here with you Tessa.” She shakes her head as he continues. “Skate Canada is giving me paid vacation and I closed up the skate shop today. Your sister phoned me yesterday saying you were alone. I’m alone too, Tess. No one should be alone during this. I knew you wouldn’t come to me so this was the only way.” 

“I want to be alone, I have to be,” she snaps at his bewildering explanation. 

“It doesn’t matter.” 

“What?” she says irritated, and suddenly her energy is back. “I could have the virus Scott. I just came back from France. I’m supposed to be self-isolating, you shouldn’t--” 

“Do you know they’re issuing a lockdown tonight?” Scott snaps back at her. “We’re all being quarantined whether we have the virus or not, whether we travelled or not.” 

“It doesn’t matter--it doesn’t change the fact that I don’t want you--” 

“Liar.” She stares at him. “Stop lying to yourself Tessa. They’re saying 8 weeks lockdown you know. You’re only human, why would you subject yourself to--”

“I could infect you, you could literally die because of me.”

He shakes his head. “I don’t care.” 

“Wha-- this is a pandemic Scott! You need to take this social distancing seriously. Go home and put on netflix or something, just go--go away!”

“What if something happens to you? Why aren’t you staying with your family Tess? What if something happens and no one is around to help you?”

She sighs. “I’ll be fine Scott. I’m always fine.” 

His sudden anger shocks her. “You just can’t admit it to yourself. You’re not some superhuman Tessa, you need family, you need love--”

“Get out,” she cries out, and he stops talking and moves fast towards her. Fear rises in her belly as his arms lock around her. 

“I’m staying here Tessa because I can’t bear it. I couldn’t sleep last night, I was up all night thinking of you all alone in this big empty house. And if-- god forbid-- if something happened-- I just couldn’t-- I couldn’t live in a world where you don’t exist.”

His confession throws Tessa firmly into panic mode and she is confused as well. “Why did you--what about--” 

“We’re done, and have been for ages. If you hadn’t blocked me on everything, maybe--”

She pushes him off. “You did this to us. I would never have--you told me over the phone!” and the tears are flowing freely down her face now. He is looking at her now with what she thinks is pity and she can’t stand it. 

“I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to you, I swear.” 

She shakes her head again and wipes her eyes trying to clear her vision. She is confused at what’s he saying, why he is here now and what it all means. She needs time and she needs space. 

“Please--” she sobs, “please get out.” 

“I’m an idiot Tessa, it took the world ending for me to know how much of an idiot I’ve been.” 

“The world is not ending!” she screams at him.

“It could be, it’s the closest to ending as I ever seen it. I don’t want to waste another breath away from you.” 

It’s too much for her. It takes every last ounce of energy she has but she retreats to her bedroom, making sure to lock the door, before she collapses on her bed, sobbing.

**

She emerges from her bedroom an hour later and she knows he’s still here as she can see his truck on the driveway from her bedroom window. He is sitting on the couch and motions for her to sit on the chaise across from him. She hesitates but takes a seat. 

“I’m sorry Tess that I forced my way into your house and--” 

“You’re still here,” she says stopping him. He nods and she’s subdued and worn out. She looks around, seeing that he has made himself and his supplies at home. She notes three dozen packs of Lysol wipes on the floor near the door. She raises her eyebrow and he follows her gaze. “It’s not all for us. What we don’t use we can sell on Amazon for exorbitant prices and make a tidy profit.” He laughs when she gasps. 

“So what do you want to watch first? 'Love is Blind' looks good. I see that’s it on your watchlist too.” She gives in. 

**

The next day, Scott and Tessa have binge-watched the entire season of the dating reality show ‘Love is Blind’ and they are eating a dinner of asparagus soup when Scott makes a wild suggestion. “Let’s watch 'Love Island' next.” 

“That’s like forty episodes Scott…” 

“Good. We have nothing better to do and nowhere else to be Tess.” 

**

Maybe it’s the influence of the reality shows they’re watching but they started talking. Sometimes when one episode ends, Scott will pause before the next one starts. He will go to prepare a snack and ask her questions about the show, what she thinks of this or that couple, and then he twists and connives his way into asking her personal questions. She knows what he’s doing. There’s a sort of reward system where he doesn’t give her popcorn or pizza bites or whatever snack he’s brought to the couch unless she answers his questions. It works and he’s vulnerable and honest when she asks questions of her own. 

**

She forgives him. It only takes five days from the day he arrived. She wakes up next to him on the sixth day and they spend a lazy and wonderous day in bed exploring each other like the never explored before. She forgets about the outside world, he doesn’t give her a moment to despair or overthink anything. She completely surrenders and she feels unrestrained and fearless for the first time. He whispers loving admissions against her skin and eagerly listens when she tells him all the buried secrets of her heart. She thinks it may be the best day of her life. 

**

It’s the seventh night when she develops a cough and he grows increasingly concerned over the next few days as the cough grows worse. She tries to stay away from him but it’s impossible and he is determined to get her tested. He spends hours on the phone trying to find a testing center that isn’t overrun or closed. She watches from the couch, buried in blankets, as he grapples with the fear and frustration. She urges him to leave but he refuses.

**

He has it too, she’s infected him as well, she’s sure of it and he denies it when she tells him. I probably already had it Tess, he tells her. She doesn’t believe it and she’s never prayed before but now she prays to every god at night.

**

“We should get married.”

“The courts are closed and we are both sick” she says because she is always the practical one. He shakes his head.

“We don’t need all that Tess, we can still exchange vows, we can still swear to and promise each other--” She kisses him to make him shut up but he is determined. 

“How? It doesn’t matter. I feel like we’re married anyway. Besides Scott, you haven’t even proposed to me.” 

**

It’s ridiculous and romantic and of course, she accepts. He has somehow procured a ring and she blows a kiss at him as her ventilator masks stops her from kissing him. 

**

When she wakes, she sees her mother’s happy face. 

“You’re going to be okay now sweetie. You are cured.” She is too weak to talk and ask but she notices Scott’s absence from her bedside right away. 

No one mentions him.

**

He comes to her the morning after she gains consciousness. She is elated and wants to scream at him for worrying her. He looks healthy but sad. 

“I thought the world was over. That’s why I--our engagement --we can’t. I’m still married to her Tess.”

He is crying and his hands are shaking and he is barely getting the words out. She doesn't understand him. He puts his hands over his face and takes a deep breath. 

“She’s my wife Tess, I put her through so much already and I can’t leave her. She's pregnant.” 

Tessa gives out a strangled sob as the shocking news hits her like a freight train. 

“What am I to you Scott?” she whispers. The look he gives her is intense and heartbreaking. 

“ _The love of my life,_ ” he whispers back, holding back a sob before exiting the room and leaving her alone, once again. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
